The present invention relates to an automatic, continuously operable bag opening apparatus. Such bag may be made, for example, of paper, plastics material, jute, burlap, and the like, or combinations thereof. Such bags are used for transporting bulk material, such as grains, cement, and the like, and the present apparatus is intended to automatically and continuously remove such materials from the bags for further transporting into a filling funnel, for example, by gravity or by other mechanical or pneumatic conveying means which are not part of the present invention.
Devices for opening bags are known in the prior art as, for example, represented by German Pat. Nos. 1,207,877; 1,221,155; and 1,461,865. Prior art devices of this type comprise two conveying elements arranged alongside each other leaving a gap therebetween for a cutting mechanism. The conveying elements, for example, comprise chains provided with friction increasing means such as points or tips extending away from the chain links. These chains are arranged to extend horizontally or vertically alongside each other to receive the bags therebetween. The bags must be received between the chains in a precisely aligned position, either upright or prone. As the bags travel through the channel between the chains, they retain their original position while they are being emptied through usually quite involved devices. Thus, prior art arrangements have the disadvantage that, for example, only one bag size may travel through the machine and that it becomes necessary to readjust the machine if different bag sizes are to be opened. Such adjustments usually require a substantial amount of time as well as rather involved mechanisms, since a precise alignment and/or a precise channel shape are absolutely necessary.